Image above via Center for American Progress: The Choices Still to Be Made in the New Debt Deal

MCA director Linda Teeter poses with Gov. Snyder and Reps. O’Brien and McCann at the signing of the new transit bill for Kalamazoo County.

For more information on the new bill, see this article, and for information on today’s press conference at the Kalamazoo Transit Center, see this article.

Below are some photos from today’s event.

Frank, speaking at MCA’s rally to protest cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Check out the rest of our videos from the event at our YouTube page here.

On Tuesday, July 19 2011, Michigan Citizen Action will be joined by a delegation of seniors, parents, workers, and advocates in Grand Rapids to call upon Congressman Justin Amash to firmly oppose any deal to raise the debt ceiling that includes cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security while billionaires and corporate CEOs continue to get tax breaks that drain money from the budget. Additionally, constituents will raise questions about Congressman Amash’s recent vote for the Republican (Ryan) budget that would slash Medicaid spending by one third and would also end Medicare as we know it by replacing guaranteed benefits with vouchers for a fixed amount that seniors would use to buy private insurance.

Who: Erin Knott, Deputy Director, Michigan Citizen Action

Stan Roth, Grand Rapids Senior Advocate

Eli Isaguirre, Policy Advocate, Michigan Consumers for Healthcare Advancement

Where: Gerald R. Ford Federal Building (Ottawa side)

110 Michigan Street N.W.

Grand Rapids, MI 49503

When: Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Rally from 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.

Press Conference at 4:30 p.m.

The President announced meetings with Congressional leaders to take place Thursday to make progress on the deficit reduction plans now being negotiated.  There are grave concerns there will be large spending cuts, in Medicaid and elsewhere, that will hurt low-income people.  Advocates must elevate the potential devastating impacts these negotiations can have on low-income people and programs.  By calling or emailing the White House you can show strong support for holding firm against damaging cuts.

Call or send a message to the White House (President Obama and Vice President Biden). Call toll-free: 1-888-245-0215 or send a message (you can paste the following into the WH comment line or write something in your own words)

Urge them to:

Please hold firm and prevent harmful cuts or caps to low-income programs in the negotiations to reduce the deficit. Please insist on fair increases in revenues to prevent reckless cuts to Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, and other essential services.

Please take action today by asking the White House to protect our families in the deficit reduction deal. Go here to send the White House your message:http://1.usa.gov/jdipsp

Prospects for Progressive Politics: A July 4th Interview With Activist Jeff Blum

This year, Americans celebrated their independence at a time when almost 10 percent of the workforce is officially unemployed, millions more are underemployed, and millions of families are losing their homes. Under these circumstances, why isn’t the left gaining momentum? What are the prospects for progressive politics? To answer these questions, on July 4, between the fireworks and the parades, I interviewed veteran activist Jeff Blum about the challenges and opportunities facing the progressive movement today.

Blum has been on the front lines of the progressive movement for 40 years. For 12 years he has been executive director of USAction, a multi-issue progressive advocacy organization with independent affiliates in 22 states. Under his leadership, USAction has broken ground on health care, budget and taxes, Social Security and the war in Iraq. Blum co-chairs and was one of the founders ofHealth Care for America Now (HCAN), which formed the progressive flank in last year’s health care debate. It played a key role in passing the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which — with all its flaws — is the first guarantee of affordable health care for all Americans in our history.

Blum began as a community organizer in Boston in the 1970s. In 1980s he ran a statewide advocacy group in Pennsylvania that, among other significant victories, worked with then-Congressman Bob Edgar (D-PA) to pass the Toxic Chemical Right to Know law. He also helped pass Pennsylvania’s first statewide tax supporting public transit and led a successful campaign to reform the state’s Public Utility Commission. He was also a founder of Jewish Funds for Justice.

Dreier: What are the key things that progressive organizations need to do today to expand progressive power and shrink corporate power?

Blum: The first thing we need is a vision of progress that is rooted in American reality and history. I am drawn to the idea of “liberty and justice for all,” written as part of the Pledge of Allegiance by Rev. Francis Bellamy in 1892. Liberty and freedom are easier concepts in America than justice and equality. But the greatest political leaders – Lincoln, FDR, King – always linked them together. There are many other similar concepts. Van Jones is promoting the American Dream as an over-arching vision, and we’re working with him on that.

Read the rest of the article here.

One of the proposals in the deficit reduction talks would cut $100 billion from Medicaid and CHIP by changing the formula for the federal government’s share of the cost. Another proposal would reduce or eliminate special assessments on providers used by states to help pay their share of Medicaid costs. These two proposals, combined with other reductions, could add up to $150 billion in Medicaid cuts.

The “Blended Rate” Proposal

Under current law, states receive different matching rates for different groups of people. Medicaid pays 50 to 75% of total costs for people currently eligible; the federal government will pay the entire cost of Medicaid for people newly eligible in the 2014 health reform expansion, declining to 90% over time. The federal match for CHIP averages 70%.

Instead of multiple matching rates, a new proposal would create a single “blended” federal matching rate for each state. However, the new rate will be set so the federal government pays a lower share of costs overall. Medicaid cuts of $100 billion or more are hidden in the formula change.

Tell Congress: Don’t support massive cuts to Medicaid under any formula.

The “blended rate” proposal:

• Shifts costs to states at a time when states already are making deep cuts to Medicaid. This will lead to more restrictive eligibility rules, reduced benefits, or limited access to providers for populations that rely on Medicaid, including poor children, people with disabilities and seniors in nursing homes. The lost funding will decrease local economic activity and cost jobs.
• Creates new formula fights among states. States often argue that the federal contribution to their Medicaid programs is insufficient, but this proposal would force states to scramble even more for a smaller pot of federal dollars. With more than $100 billion in cuts, every state loses.
• Rewrites an important formula based on guesswork. Federal and state officials don’t know for sure how many people will enroll in Medicaid in 2014 when eligibility rules change and the individual responsibility requirement takes effect, or how healthy or sick those people will be. It will be impossible to create a fair formula without those facts.
• Threatens the coverage expansion under the new health law. The federal government is scheduled to pay 100% of Medicaid costs for newly eligible people in 2014, with the match declining to 90% over time. This proposal will cut the federal reimbursement for newly-eligible people and shift some of the cost of new enrollees to states, thereby reducing states’ incentives to enroll the maximum number of people and further eroding political support for the ACA.
• Creates a mechanism to “dial-up” cuts. Proposing an entirely new formula during deficit reduction negotiations leads to arbitrary reductions. Closed-door negotiations are fluid, making it easy to dial-up the total amount slashed because the formula isn’t locked in and officials won’t have to explain the changes’ impact on real people who rely on the program.

Healthcare.gov announced recent changes in the high risk pool program administered by the federal government, and Michigan also received notice of opportunities to reduce the rates of its high-risk program.  Michigan’s program, the Health Insurance Program for Michigan, is administered by Physician’s Health Plan.  The opportunity to reduce premiums by as much as 40% is great news for those who have been eligible, but unable to afford the premiums.  Check out their website at www.hipmichigan.com for additional information on current rates, and please pass this information along to uninsured Michiganians you know.

Cuts Could Cost Michigan as Many as 50,650 Jobs and as Much as $5.7 Billion in State Business Activity

Washington, D.C.—The Medicaid cuts in the House Republican budget, if implemented today, would have a devastating impact on the struggling economy of Michigan. These cuts would put as many as 50,650 jobs and as much as $5.7 billion in state business activity at risk. That’s the conclusion of a report for Michigan released today by the national health care consumer organization Families USA.

Titled “Jobs at Risk,” the report focuses mainly on how Medicaid cuts would damage the state’s economy, although the report makes clear that the human toll of such cuts is far wider, affecting the health and well-being of low-income and middle-class families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities.

“Every federal Medicaid dollar that flows into a state stimulates state business activity and generates jobs,” Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, said today. “Conversely—and tragically, for Michigan—cutting Medicaid funds not only hurts seniors, people with disabilities, and children who count on the program as their lifeline, but it also results in fewer jobs and stunts the economic recovery.”

The budget proposal adopted by the U.S. House of Representatives, sponsored by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), calls for cuts in federal funding to current state Medicaid programs of 5 percent in 2013, 15 percent in 2014, and 33 percent in 2021.

View the Families USA “Jobs at Risk” report for Michigan and finish reading article below.

Read the rest of Proposed Medicaid Cuts Would Harm Michigan’s Economy